30 « January « 2009 « Film News Briefs

Archive for January 30th, 2009

Friday, January 30th, 2009

FRIDAY JANUARY 30, 2009

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Cheo Hodari Coker is making himself quite a morbid niche: writing biopics about slain rap stars. The “Notorious” screenwriter is attached to adapt Bill Adler’s “Tougher Than Leather: The Rise of Run-DMC — The Authorized Biography” for DJ Classicz, the urban arm of Davis Entertainment. DJ Classicz president Dallas Jackson optioned the book recently and will produce with production partner John Davis. Adler, the group’s former publicist, will executive produce. While Fox Searchlight’s “Notorious,” released two weeks ago, outlines the life and premature death of Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G., “Tougher” will explore the history of hip-hop’s first superstars: Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, who was shot to death in his Queens studio in 2002.

CBS made its first drama pilot pickups Thursday with orders to three projects, all from CBS Paramount Network TV. The U.S. Attorney project, from “The Unit” co-exec producer Frank Military, is an ensemble legal show about a team of federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan. “Back,” from writer Dean Widenmann and exec producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, centers on a man who returns home, only to discover he had been reported missing eight years earlier, after Sept. 11. He must learn how to reconnect with his family and a world that moved on without him. “Washington Field,” from “Criminal Minds” exec producer/showrunner Ed Bernero, is named after FBI’s Washington Field Office that houses the National Capital Response Squad, a unit comprising elite experts in different areas who travel around the world, responding to events that concern the U.S. national interest.

Channing Tatum has been tapped to star in, and Dito Montiel to write and direct “The Brotherhood of the Rose,” an adaptation of the David Morrell novel for Warner Bros. Montiel is rewriting an earlier draft from Adam Cozad. In the novel, two orphans are raised by a CIA operative to become assassins, only to become targets themselves.

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” helmer Scott Derrickson is set to direct “Hyperion Cantos” for Warner Bros. and GK Films. Derrickson boards a project that will take two Dan Simmons sci-fi novels — “Hyperion” and “The Fall of Hyperion” — and meld them into one film being scripted by Trevor Sands. Story is set in the distant future, as a space war threatens Hyperion, a planet known for the Time Tombs — large artifacts that can move through time and are guarded by a gruesome monster called the Shrike.

What’s that about cat-scratch fever? Well, TV scribe Tom Wheeler’s got it. Wheeler has been hired to write the “Shrek” spinoff “Puss in Boots” for DreamWorks Animation, a stand-alone feature foray for the feline assassin/swordsman voiced by Antonio Banderas in the two most recent “Shrek” films.

PROJECT UPDATES

Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver set “Kung Fu Panda” co-director John Stevenson to make his live action directing debut on “Masters of the Universe,” a re-imagining of the signature Mattel toy line. He-Man is a brawny prince who transforms into a warrior who becomes the last hope for a magical land called Eternia, which is being ravaged by technology and the evil Skeletor. Silver is producing through his Silver Pictures banner. Mattel’s Barry Waldo will be executive producer.

Michael Shannon, an Oscar nominee for “Revolutionary Road,” has been tapped to co-star in Martin Scorsese’s HBO pilot “Boardwalk Empire.” Also cast in the project, based on Nelson Johnson’s book about the early 20th century origins of Atlantic City, N.J., is Vincent Piazza as a young Lucky Luciano. “Empire,” written by Terrence Winter and to be directed by Scorsese, centers on Nucky Johnson (Steve Buscemi), who runs a liquor distribution ring at the onset of Prohibition, and Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt), a ruthless World War I veteran and a low-level flunky for Nucky.

Two more comedy pilots received the green light at ABC on Thursday, including the Lauren Graham vehicle “Let It Go,” from Sony TV and studio-based Tantamount. Graham plays a self-help guru who teaches women how to “let it go’ but fails to follow her own advice when her perfect boyfriend dumps her. The second pilot picked up Thursday is an untitled multi-camera comedy from writer-exec producer Tad Quill (“Scrubs”) and ABC Studios. The project revolves around two forty-something friends who embark on very different lives — one with a new baby and one with a newly empty nest.

Jason Segel is in negotiations and Emily Blunt has been offered to sign up for “Gulliver’s Travels,” Fox’s Jack Black-starring modern re-imagining of Jonathan Swift’s classic tale. Rob Letterman is directing the story of free-spirited travel writer Lemuel Gulliver (Black), who on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle washes ashore on the hidden island of Lilliput, home to a population of industrious yet tiny people. Blunt would play the island’s princess and the love interest of Horatio, Segel’s character, a Lilliputian who befriends Gulliver. Nicholas Stoller, who directed Segel in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” wrote the screenplay with Joe Stillman.

Simon Beaufoy, who last week received an Oscar nomination for penning “Slumdog Millionaire,” has been tapped to write “Leap Year,” Spyglass’ romantic comedy with Amy Adams. Anand Tucker is directing, and Spyglass’ Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber and Jonathan Glickman are producing with Benderspink. Adams is playing an uptight woman who travels to Dublin to propose to her boyfriend on leap day, Feb. 29, following an Irish tradition in which women propose to men on that day and the man must say yes. When weather derails her trip, she enlists the help of a surly Irish innkeeper to make an unexpected cross-country trek to pull off the perfect proposal in time. Harry Elfont and Deb Kaplan (“Made of Honor”) wrote the earlier draft that got the project greenlit and attracted Adams.

Oscar nominee Viola Davis has joined psychological thriller “Law Abiding Citizen” alongside Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. F. Gary Gray is directing the pic, which began shooting Jan. 21 in Philadelphia, for the Film Department. Story focuses on a man who, 10 years after his wife and daughter are brutally murdered, returns to exact justice from the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case against their killers.

Comedy troupe Broken Lizard has found its entourage for the rock star hanger-on comedy “Freeloaders.” Clifton Collins Jr., Josh Lawson, Kevin Sussman, Zoe Boyle, Nat Faxon, Warren Hutchinson, Jane Seymour, Olivia Munn and Dave Foley will star in the ensemble laffer, which Broken Lizard is producing with Counting Crows lead singer Adam Duritz, who will play a small role. Story revolves around five guys and a girl who live in the lap of luxury in a rock star’s mansion but see their lifestyle threatened. Dan Rosen wrote the screenplay with the Gigolo Aunts lead singer Dave Gibbs. Rosen is attached to direct.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan will star opposite Hilary Swank in “The Resident,” a thriller Antti J. Jokinen is directing for Hammer Films. The story centers on a young doctor (Swank) who moves into a loft in Brooklyn where mysterious occurrences lead her to suspect that she is not alone in her home. She discovers that her seemingly charming landlord (Morgan) has developed a dangerous obsession with her, resulting in a terrifying game of cat and mouse.

BUSINESS NEWS

The latest round of showbiz layoffs hit yesterday morning with Disney-ABC Television Group informing insiders that it is shedding about 400 jobs, or about 4% of the TV group’s total workforce. The cuts will reach across the board in Disney-ABC TV group divisions and go high the exec chain. The Mouse will cut about 200 staffers and eliminating another 200 posts that have already been frozen for months. The ABC News division has laid off about 40 staffers and will not fill any of its 60 open positions, insiders said.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Longtime MTV exec Christina Norman has been named CEO of the Oprah Winfrey Network. Norman will oversee all business and creative endeavors for the fledgling channel, a joint venture between Discovery Communications and Winfrey’s Harpo Prods., working out of its Los Angeles headquarters. She will work closely with OWN president Robin Schwartz in building the new cable network, which is slated to launch either late this year or early 2010 on what is now the Discovery Health Channel.

Marketing veteran Geoffrey Ammer has ankled as Marvel Studios prexy of worldwide marketing and homevid after a year, opting to reopen his G2 Consulting practice. During his tenure, Ammer oversaw the releases of Marvel’s “Iron Man” with Paramount and “The Incredible Hulk” with Universal, as Marvel ramped up its film production arm.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

The AFTRA Retirement Fund has filed a federal lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase Bank over losses in millions of dollars that the plan sustained through the Sigma Finance hedge fund. The pension fund filed the suit, which seeks class-action status, in U.S. District Court in New York on Jan. 23. The action alleges that JPMorgan Chase lost a “substantial portion” in cash collateral in medium-term notes issued by Sigma Finance Inc., a structured investment vehicle sponsored by Sigma Finance Corp. It said creditors seized over $25 billion of Sigma’s $27 billion in assets in September and October, leaving about $1.9 billion as security for about $6.2 billion of outstanding medium-term notes.

SAG’s negotiations with the congloms next week are expected to be short and sweet — and without moguls Peter Chernin or Bob Iger getting directly involved. Neither the Screen Actors Guild nor the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers has commented on the talks, set for Tuesday and Wednesday. But several factors should put the talks on a fast track. (There’s a bunch of them, so click the link below to check them out.)

TECHNOLOGY/MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

Steven Spielberg and Electronic Arts are teaming for the second game in their partnership, “Boom Blox Bash Party,” which will be available in the spring for the Nintendo Wii. The new game is a sequel to last year’s “Boom Blox” and promises increased multiplayer action and more than 400 new levels that take players from underwater into outer space.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://revision3.com/

This techie-centric web video producer, creators of shows like Diggnation and Tekzilla, had some buoyant annual usage numbers to share this week. Views of Revision3 programs increased by more than 140% in 2008 to 46 million overall views – translating into nearly one billion minutes of engagement for sponsors. Revison3 also sells midroll and post-roll ads but product integration has become the real breadwinner, commanding $80 CPMs that are rarely discounted. The company is reaching viewers on a variety of platforms; about 30% watch on Revision3.com, another 30%-40% get their regular fix via subscriptions on iTunes and other RSS-based syndication services and the remaining 20%-30% watch on YouTube, TivoCast and CNET. Transpera also manages mobile distribution for Revision3 shows, including distributing podcasts via the iPhone. The company is hoping to increase its subscriber base further this year via web search optimization strategies. A new partnership with a vendor called EveryZing increases the chances of Revision3 shows coming up in search engine queries by converting dialogue from each show into text then tagging key words and phrases. Google’s recent move to integrate video search with text pulls up thumbnails of videos with each search.